Cervical Exercise: - KnowYourBack.org

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Posture Is Very ImportantTooIf your symptoms worsen while sitting, meaningthey intensify or move away from your neck,toward or into your shoulder, or down yourarm, it’s likely related to your posture. Mostof us have a habit of slouching and letting ourhead protrude forward(Figure 5). A forwardhead position, especiallywhen maintained for anextended period of time,commonly produces andaggravates painful neckconditions. To your painfullower neck, it is theequivalent of forwardbending at the waist thatso commonly aggravates apainful low back.Figure 5. Forwardhead positionGood neck posture means placing and maintainingyour head in a “neutral” position so, lookingfrom the side, your ears are aligned directlyover your shoulders (Figure 6). When you areunaccustomed to this position, it initially can feelawkward, like a chin-tucking position. But thisnew position places the weight of your head directlyover your supporting spine, like a golf ballnicely sitting on a small golf tee. That minimizesthe stresses on the discs and supporting ligamentsin your neck. It is helpful to sit with the same
hollow in our lower backthat we have with standingand walking (Figure 6).The use of a lumbar rollor support for that hollowcan make sitting erectlymuch easier, especiallyif the buttocks are positionedagainst the back ofan upright chair. Avoidingdeep soft chairs also assistsin sitting erectly.Figure 6. Neutralhead position whilesittingIt also helps at first to approach this new erectsitting posture as an exercise. That helps youpractice finding this new head position as well asbuild the necessary stamina to hold this posturefor longer and longer periods of time. Many alsofind pain relief by creating that same neutral headposition by lying on their back using as thin apillow as possible, or even no pillow at all.Establishing and maintaining the neutral headposition is challenging at first, but can be a keyto both recovery and preventing the return ofyour pain. You can determine the usefulness ofthese posture modifications by monitoring yourown pain: specifically whether you are able todiminish, centralize or even eliminate it. If noexercise, movement or posture is found that willcause your pain to centralize, you may needfurther evaluation to determine your other treatmentoptions.
Page 5 and 6: Walking erectly with “neutral”
Page 7: Sitting or standing neck retraction
Page 11 and 12: Strengthening ExercisesMany people
Page 13 and 14: Prone Head Lifts (Figure 10): Lying
Page 15 and 16: Neck Rotation (Figure 13): While si

Cervical Exercise: - KnowYourBack.org

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